The longest heat wave ever is approaching Greece. Thousands of tourists flee huge forest fires, especially in Rhodes.
Thousands of tourists are on the tourist island of Rhodes fleeing huge forest fires, which can also be seen from the air as a huge wall of fire. Forest fires in Rhodes have been raging since last Tuesday. Most people were brought to the southeast of the island.
Greece was expecting one of the longest and most intense heatwaves in the country. 44 degrees Celsius were expected in Athens this Sunday.
Thousands evacuated directly from the beach
Around 2,000 people had to be evacuated from the beaches – some by boat – in addition to three Coast Guard ships and a Navy ship, private boats were also involved in the evacuation operation.
According to a special program on Greek television – quoted by AFP – a total of 30,000 people had been rescued by Saturday night. Local police initially spoke about evacuating 15,000 people.
Videos posted on the internet show chaotic scenes of people fleeing the fire. Many walked with suitcases.
The British Embassy in Greece has set up an emergency hotline for tourists in Rhodes.
The German embassy apparently initially expected the situation to calm down quickly.